Nose Bleed

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miss_p

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Hi everyone

My pony had a slight nose bleed after riding this evening. It was only a trickle and stopped after I had wiped it. He did sneeze a few times on the way home but nothing worse than normal. Some people have told me to get the vet out but he seemed fine after 20mins before I put him back out. Do you think I should be worried? Thanks in advance for your comments.
 
Not really, went out hacking for an hour which isn't anymore than usual. He did seem a bit more lethargic today as we had a 2hour hack yesterday so he may have still been a bit tired from that?
 
i found some stuff about it but i haven't read it all....


A nosebleed — properly termed epistaxis — occurs when any part of the nasal passages (which are richly supplied with blood vessels), throat, lower airways or lungs are injured to such a degree that blood vessels are damaged and blood leaks out.

The commonest cause is a simple knock on the head, when alarmingly large amounts of blood may pour from one nostril. Such traumatic nosebleeds are usually self-limiting, but always consult your vet.

Nosebleed are also common reason if the delicate nasal tissues are knocked inadvertently when a vet passes a stomach tube up from the nostril. Sometimes this is inevitable, particularly if the horse moves at the wrong moment, but the bleeding always stops.

A moderate nosebleed, if accompanied by coughing, suggests a foreign body wedged in the nose or throat.

Occasionally tumours somewhere in the respiratory tract or inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis) will produce a trickle of blood from the nose.

More serious problems include a progressive ethmoid haematoma, which is a lump that can grow inside the horse's nose. It is similar to a giant blood blister and is aptly described as a "bleeding polyp". It is a rare condition seen in around one horse in 2,500.

Guttural pouch mycosis is the typical cause of repeated nosebleeds, unrelated to exercise or trauma, and is a serious condition that requires surgery to control the bleeding.

Bleeding from both nostrils after exercise is most commonly due to an exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage. This happens when bleeding occurs from the blood vessels within the lung. Because the blood is coming up from the lungs, technically it is not a true nosebleed at all.
 
No he hasn't eaten anything poisonous. Thanks for your help I think I will see how he is tomorrow and hopefully it was just a one off. It was only a slight trickle and from reading up on it, it doesn't sound serious at the minute. Thanks again.
 
Thats ok, could be the change in weather too, my horse has been lethargic when ridden for the last 5 days, got vet wed. just cant figure it out
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Such a worry sometimes aren't they!! My boy is 22 now and somedays he doesn't want to do anything, then when i think maybe its because he's getting on a bit now and needs to slow down- he starts acting like a 5 year old!! Good luck with the vet, hope all goes well.
 
I wouldn't worry too much if this is the first time he's had a nose bleed, it was only little and he'd been sneezing before hand
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probably just ruptured a little vessel in his nose. Nose bleeds can be a worry as if they bleed severly the blood can run back down the throat and fill the lungs which can kill them but if it's a trickle it's not a worry! If he keep sneezing it might be worth speaking to a vet as he might have an allergy of some sort? My young horse used to get nose bleed in the Spring and Autumn, usually during the night and the vet thought he probably sneezed due to pollen or the likes. He told me not to worry unless it started to get worse or persistant.
 
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